After Joining Apple in 2012, Chomp Co-Founder is Leaving

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After Joining Apple in 2012, Chomp Co-Founder is Leaving

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Cathy Edwards, co-founder of app search discovery platform Chomp and currently Director of Evaluation and Quality on Apple Maps, will leave Apple on April 11, TechCrunch has learned. Edwards joined Apple back in February 2012 when Apple acquired Chomp.

Right after joining Apple, she was responsible for “search systems across multiple Apple products,” which included search for the App Store, iTunes, and Maps, according to her LinkedIn profile, but before the iPhone maker discontinued Chomp, she became the the Director of Evaluation and Quality for Apple Maps.

However, this wasn’t the best time to take over this position:

She joined that role at a pretty thankless time, if you recall the chaos of Apple Maps-gate. Edwards’ role at Apple Maps has focused on “Building out an organization focused on QA automation, statistical quality analysis and analytics within Maps,” according to LinkedIn. Essentially, her work was about making sure that Apple Maps didn’t suck, something that remains a goal for the company. “We’re hiring, come join us!” ends the description. This remains her role up to today.

The background of her departure is yet unclear, and so is her next move. TechCrunch speculates that it could be related to the terms of the contract inked between Chomp and Apple. What seems to be certain, though, is that she plans to stay in Silicon Valley but will wait before she makes her next move.

Apple acquired Chomp two years ago for $50 million in an effort to boost app discovery. While the company has made a couple of moves to improve app search, the most notable feature has yet to hit the App Store, though it will do so shortly: related search suggestions, a feature currently in its testing phase.